"I have been friends with Marty Jones over at the Wynkoop for ten years, so when he called me and said they had some lag time in the tanks and did we want to brew something, I gathered up the troops," says James Pachorek.

After talking over styles and ingredients, Pachorek says he decided to go for a dark saison, but one with roasty flavors that would give it an almost porter-like feel.

"I wanted to craft something really fun, a nice silky dark saison," he says. "Already, it has a big bold dark ruby color but with those dry, Belgian esters that make it quaffable."

Jones says he and Wynkoop head brewer Andy Brown did some experiments, testing different yeast strains in the brewery's B3K lager before finding one they liked. "This is the first time we've done a collaboration that involved yeast like that," he adds.

Although Pachorek has been running the Cheeky Monk since 2007, he hasn't done a lot of collaborations with local brewers, but he said this one felt right.

"I know it's called craft beer, but what they do over there is really an art, and it's fun, and that is why we all started doing this in the first place," he explains. "Sometimes the business part gets in the way, so it was nice to just go over there and have some fun."

The beer, which hasn't yet been named, will probably be tapped and served at the Cheeky Monk locations in Denver and Westminster and at the Wynkoop sometime in late May. It may also find its way to a few of the Wynkoop's accounts around town.

In the meantime, the Pachoreks have started demolition inside the building next to the Cheeky Monk on Colfax that will become Lost Highway Brewing.

The couple has wanted to open their own brewery for several years and entered into an agreement to buy the building next to their own last year. The brewery, which will serve a variety of beer styles, could be open as soon as late August, Pachorek says.